William Mackergo Taylor (1829–1895) graduated from the University of Glasgow at the relatively young age of 20. He was licensed as a preacher three years later, in 1852, by the United Presbytery of Ayrshire and two years later became the head pastor of United Presbyterian Church in Bootle, England. In 1872, he received a letter asking him to pastor the Broadway Tabernacle Church in New York, which position he gladly accepted and held until 1892. He was an extremely sought-after preacher, public speaker, and rhetorician.